Reedin El Capitano

For a (relatively) new up-and-coming brand, Reedin have produced a broad range of foil sports equipment already, in terms of wings, foils and boards. The Flight Attendant foil system was a great starter-to-intermediate package with friendly characteristics, and to accompany this, something more high-performance was required for those who want to push themselves. Here’s where El Capitano feeds in, as a higher-aspect performance freeride offering available in sizes from 575 to 1695 in six sizes. What remains completely consistent across the size increments is the aspect ratio, which sits at exactly 9.5 throughout.

Out of the box, the package is impressively detailed. Close-fitting red bespoke covers protect your precious composites cleverly and mesh together neatly whether the system is built or in its individual components. The meticulous nature of the setup even goes down to the fixings, which are all supplied clearly labeled for purpose in a little wallet. Gone are the days of a plastic bag of mystery.

Two accompanying high-aspect stabilizers are available in 155 and 180 sizes. These have trim ability built in with some oval-shaped apertures, allowing it to rock back and forth a degree or so to set the stabilizer angle, leaving any irritating shims well out of the picture. This is particularly significant if you are swapping disciplines and wish to sacrifice a little top-end speed for bottom-end lift when prone, for instance.

What’s immediately striking about the foil system is the elegance. Its junctions are all quite narrow and smoothed to minimize drag. The fuselage is aluminum and has a tapered aperture to receive the mast foot. This pulls itself in with two M6 bolts and wedges itself in to avoid any play in this highly important hinge point. The pre-preg mast starts quite sturdy at the top but has a generous amount of taper all the way down to 12.5mm at the narrowest point in the lower section, and the system feels suitably buttery through the water as you’d expect and translates the foil feeling excellently. An EVA pad is present on the mast top and protects the board. The front wing wedges on with four bolts here leaving no room for play. It’s a neat, minimal and well-engineered system that goes together easily and relatively quickly.

We primarily tested the 995 with the 180 stabilizer which is touted as the bread and butter. This spanned disciplines well betwixt wing and prone for the average-sized punter in average-sized conditions. The foil’s shape has that gentle trailing edge concave on the underside which we’ve become familiar with across many high-aspect offerings fading into the tip, but what makes it stand out from the crowd is a pronounced wingtip reflex, with a significant dihedral flick and thinner profile.

In practice, it’s a progressive and lively ride compared to most recent high-aspect offerings, and took a moment or two to dial into. It takes a little more technique to pop it up onto foil. For a high aspect foil it initiated roll extremely eagerly and has a general air of agility about it, and some really sharp cornering could be achieved. The system as a whole translates the foil feeling really well, and you always know what’s going on through your feet. When it comes to breach characteristics the El Capitano really stands out. You barely notice any accidental breach other than a little squirt of water and noise. The foil’s path doesn’t really alter, and nothing throws you off balance. Glide-wise, it feels efficient and picks up wave energy early, and you may not need to pump as much as usual as there seems to be loads of carry once in the speed range. If you do need to pump it seems to prefer an assertive stamp rather than a light tickle.

It’s a successful transition to the high-aspect realm for Reedin, with the El Capitano delivering everything it promises and proving very entertaining to ride. It doesn’t feel dulled down and will keep even the most progressive rider on their toes.